Conductor s railway-indicator



(No Model.)

B. W CARRINGTON. GOIIDUGTORS RAILWAY INDICATOR.

No. 499,517. Patented June 13,1893.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OEErcE.

BERNARD XV. CARRINGTON, OF HEPPNER, OREGON.

CONDUCTORS RAILWAY-INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 499,517, dated June 13, 1893.

Application filed September 5,1892. Serial No. 445,043. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BERNARD W. (EARRING- TON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Heppner, in the county of Morrow and State of Oregon, haveinvented a certain new and usefullniprovement in Conductors Railway-Indicators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the saine.

My invention relates to a novel indicator adapted to be carried in the pocket and especially intended for the use of railway conductors to indicate the business or train orders to be executed at the various stations along the line, and has for its object to provide such a device that shall reduce the liability of overlooking any of such duties to a minimum and that shall becapable of repeated or perpetual use and upon an unlimited number of diiferent lines.

To these ends myinvention consists in the novel construction and arrangement hereinafter fully described and afterward definitely pointed out in the claims following, due reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, wherein Figure l is a plan view of my improved indicator; Fig. 2 a section on the line .fx-, and Fig. 3 a section on the line y-y, Fig. 1.

In constructing my improved indicator I -preferably make it in the form of a book, the

letter A indicating the front and A the back covers thereof. Said covers may be formed of stiff paper board, leather, o r other suitable material, and of a size to be conveniently carried in the pocket. Upon the inside of the' cover A is formed a pocket for the reception of a tablet B which may be conveniently formed as follows: To the two sides and bottom edges of the coverA is secured by any adhesive material or other suitable means a strip a, and to said strip is likewise secured a rectangular frame a that slightly overlaps the inner edges of the strip a, thus forming a pocket Within which may be slipped the tablet B. Said tablet is provided upon its opposite sides with erasive surfaces adapted to have marked thereon by means of a pencil memoranda of the duties to be performed at the different stations. Upon the inside of the cover A is disposed a frame O, said frame being provided with a series of parallel and horizontally arranged rectangular slots c and a similar series of shorter slots c disposed along its inner edge. Between the cover A and the frame C are secured by an adhesive substance or other suitable means strips d, d', cl2 and di, the strips cl, d', being secured between said frame and the cover at the sides, the strip d2 at the bottom and the strip d3 at a point between the slots c and c', forming a series of pockets beneath said slots. Vithin the pocket formed beneath the slots c is slipped a narrow tablet E, its opposite sides being provided with erasive surfaces adapted to have marked thereon the names of the stations along the line which are visible through the slots o. Within the pockets formed beneath the slots o are arranged slides F provided with projecting tabs f. Said slides are about one'half the length of the slots c. To the inside of the cover A beneath said slots are secured colored strips G of substantially the` same length as the slides F and arranged adjacent to and opposite the slots c. When the slides F are pushed toward the center of lthe covers by means of tabs f said colored strips will be covered by said slides and hid from view, and when said slidesare moved in the opposite direction the colored strips opposite the names of the stations upon the tablet E will be exposed.

The operation of my improved indicator is as followsz-Before starting out uponthe route the conductor marks upon the tablet E the names of the stations along the line in their respective order and slips the same within its pocket upon the cover A. He also makes memoranda upon the tablet B of services to be performed at the dierent stations in such manner that said memoranda will appear upon the tablet B opposite the names of the stations upon the tablet E at which the services are to be performed. The slides F opposite those stations are then Withdrawn to one side so as to disclose the colored strips G, which serve to direct the conductors attention to the stations at which he is to perform vcertain services, the nature of the services being indicated by the memorandum Written upon the tablet B opposite the name of the IOO station. For the sake of illustration let it be supposed that the train has arrived at the station named Laurel. Upon referring to his indicator the conductor sees the color strip opposite the name of this station uncovered, which indicates to him that he has some duty to be performed at this place. Upon inspecting the tablet B he iinds indicated thereon opposite the name of the station the nature of such duties, such as switching one or more cars o on to a siding or picking up a car lying at said station, or such other services as he has previously received orders to perform.

The 'tablets B and E being provided with erasive surfaces can be used repeatedly and by furnishing both sides of said tablets with such surfaces the names of the stations and 'the memoranda of the duties to be performed can be marked upon both sides, so that by reversing the tablets a large number of stations and such memoranda can be indicated thereon, thus greatly economizing space.

Instead of applying colored strips to the cover A', as described, the cover itself may be colored at the proper points, and I prefer to employ a vivid color, such as red for example, that will instantly attract attention and reduce theliability of the station being passed unnoticed.

I havedescribed the device as being made in book form, but it may also be made in one rigid piece if desired.

I would have it understood that I do not limit myself to the precise arrangement of slides and colors opposite the name of each station as shown by the drawings. This construction may be modified by providing two colors and slides for covering said colors opposite the name of each station, so that either of said slides may be slid to expose either of said colors to indicate certain duties to be performed at this station.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. An indicator having the back A, A', the backA being provided with a pocket carrying a removable and reversible erasive tablet B, and the back A being provided with a pocket carrying a removable and reversible erasive tablet E and provided with a series of parallel and horizontally arranged pockets, of slides F itted to slide in said pockets and adapted to cover and uncover indicating colors or symbols disposed within said pockets adjacent to the tablet E, substantially as shown and described and for the purpose specified.

2. An indicator having folding backs A, A', the strip a secured to the side and bottom edges of the back A, the frame a secured to said strip, the tablet B supported between said back and frame, the frame C disposed upon the back A and provided with two series of horizontal and parallel slots c, c', the strips d, d', d2, d3, secured to and between said frame and back A in the manner shown, and slides F itted in the slots c between said frame and back and adapted to cover and uncover indicating colors or symbols as shown and described and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses. y

BERNARD W. CARRINGTON.

Witnesses:

WM. C. HARPER, JNO. R. DALE. 

